The Lodger (1944)

Starring Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Laird Cregar, Cedric Hardwicke, Sara Allgood
Directed by John Brahm
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

While the police search for the notorious Jack The Ripper, a middle-aged couple take in a mysterious new boarder, whom they soon begin to suspect might be the fiend himself.

Based on a novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, the second adaptation after a silent film by Alfred Hitchcock, this version has many merits, being wonderful to look at, and a terrific showcase for Cregar, with many fine character turns in the supporting cast.  Lucien Ballard's cinematography is first-rate, using the convincing period sets as well as a generous serving of fog, and capturing the haunting wide-eyed stare of Cregar, never better than in the film's climax.  Despite early contentions that Cregar's Mr. Slade is The Ripper, the script allows doubt to settle in in the mind of the audience, and Cregar is able to engender sympathy for his character with a soft-spoken and halting delivery of his dialogue, as well as exuding a convincing loneliness.  Oberon, as Hardwick and Allgood's niece, is finely cast as well, with her beauty and vivacity a perfect contrast to Cregar's performance.  Under Brahm's directorial hand, the film really succeeds, is well-paced and suspenseful, and climaxes in a memorable final sequence.